Rachel Allen working with Goal in India

Chef and writer Rachel Allen is in India with Goal this week, visiting some of the aid agency's projects in Kolkata, as well as hosting a fundraising dinner in Mumbai. She is accompanied on the six-day visit by her 14-year-old son Joshua. They will be visiting slum schools where Goal is providing water and sanitation services, as well as a programme supporting families living and working at municipal dumps. She will also be helping to publicise the establishment of Goal's Indian office as a non-governmental organisation.

The fundraising dinner in Mumbai will be at The Sassy Spoon, voted best independent restaurant in Mumbai by Time Out. The restaurant is co-owned by former journalist Rachel Goenka, who is now a chef and trained at the Ballymaloe Cookery School, where Rachel Allen was one of her tutors. Irish food will be on the menu, but Allen also hopes to pick up some Indian cooking tips during her first trip to the country. Next Saturday, she will be guest of honour at Goal's UK fundraising ball in London.